Apparatus for inserting floats in cakes of soap.



W; BERRY.

APPARATUS FUR INSEBTING FLDATS IN GAKES'OF SOAP.

Applicatibn filed. ct. 3 19 O 18, 1899. Renewed Dec 00 (No Model.)

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Patented June 25, mm.

H LII which may be imprinted or otherwise placed UNITED STATES PATENTTrice,

\VASHINGTON BERRY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR INSERTiNG FLOATS lN CAKES OF SOAP.

SPECIFICATKQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,866, dated June 25,1901.

Application filed October 18, 1899. Renewed December 3, 1900. Serial No.38,559 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, WAsHING-TON BERRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for LocatingFloats in Cakes of Soap, of which the following; is a specification.

This invention relates toimprovements in apparatus for locating floatsin cakes of soap, but relates more particularly to the location offloats in that class of soaps that are first molded into bars andsubsequently cut and pressed into cakes, such as transparent soap, andwhich have such specific gravity as to cause them to sink in waterunless artificially floated.

The primary object of my invention is to so mold the soap as to havewithin each cake thereof a suitable float, causing a displacementgreatly exceeding its weight and upon any desired design or form ofadvertisement or to which may be attached a card or other devicecarrying any desired design, advertisement, or device intended tobeautify the appearance of the cake of soap when the same is ready formarket, as well as to permanently display the design, advertisement, orother device during the use of the soap.

Another object is to have the floats so supported in the mold that a barfrom which a number of cakes of soap are to be cut may be cast so as toenvelop the floats and the supports for the floats be afterwardwithdrawn from the bar, so that when the cakes are formed each cake willhave a float located at the center thereof and without any evidence ofthe means by which it was supported during the molding operation.

A further object is to have in such an apparatus a detachable supportfor the floats, which may be withdrawn therefrom after the bar is castor molded, so as to leave the floats within the bar.

A still further object is to have the floats and their supports of suchcharacter that the floats may be easily and accurately centered in themold, properlysdistanced apart, and maintained in parallel planes duringthe floating operation without the exercise of more than ordinary careor skill and yet in such manner that the supports may be withdrawn fromthe floats after the bar is cast ormolded, without disturbing thepositions of the floats or marring the finish or appearance of thecompleted cakes.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bythe devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichi Figure 1represents a vertical longitudinal section through an apparatusembodying my invention, showing the same prepared for the molding of abar. Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but showing the bar of soapmolded and partly withdrawn from the apparatus; and Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking in thedirectionindicated by the arrows.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates acylinder, which is preferably open at both ends for greater conveniencein removing the molded bar of soap therefrom, as will be explainedfarther on, but which may, if desired, be closed at its lower end by anysuitable cap. At one side this cylinder is provided with a tubularlongitudinal extension B, between which and the cylinder there is opencommunication at the line of conjunction between the cylinder and tube,as clearly appears in Fig. 3. This tubular extension may be of anydesired configuration in crosssection, it being by preference and asillustrated in'the drawings substantiallycircular. Fittingsnuglywithinthe tube B is a rod 0, which has the same configuration in cross-sectionas the tube and for which the tube constitutes a guide, the tube andcylinder together constituting a continuous closed mold from end to end.At intervals along the side of the rod 0, which rod may be either solidor hollow, is arranged a series of pins D, each constituting theimmediate support of a float E, which is preferably composed of somelight wood, upon the opposite faces of which may be imprinted orotherwise applied any ornamental design, advertisement, or other deviceintended either to beautify the cakes of soap when ready for the marketor to permanently expose the advertisement or other material thereon.

So far as relates to the broad idea of my invention it is immaterial howthe floats are temporarily attached to the supports while the soap isbeing molded about theinas, for instance, the pins D may be plain pinsand the floats may have holes bored therein at one or more points aroundtheir peripheries complementary-to the pins; but in practice I find itmost desirable to provide each float witha circumferential or peripheralgroove 1* and to flatten the ends of the pins D to the width and depthof these grooves, so that when the ends of the pins are inserted in thegrooves the floats can be easily centered in the mold-cylinder A andwill be prevented from tilting or canting therein by the flattened endsof the pins. By the use Of these pins with flattened ends and thegrooves in the floats the work is much more expeditiously and accuratelyperformed and does not in volve the employment of skilled labor, for themost ordinary skill and experience will produce perfectly satisfactoryresults, as I have learned by practical use ofvmyi nven-tion.

In the practical use of my apparatus I prefer to first insert the loweropen end of the cylinder A in a bed ,G of hard soap or other way thegrooves in the floats being of a uniform depth and the flattened ends ofthe pins preventing tilting of the floats out of a horizontal plane theoperator has only to center the floats in the cylinder, which is easilydone without measurement because of the comparatively small distancebetween the edges of the floats and the walls of the cylinder.

When all of the floats are in place within the cylinder, the fluid soapis then run in until the mold is filled, and as the mold is solid fromend to end none of the liquid soap can escape therefrom. This forms inthe mold a bar of soap of substantially the shape and dimensions of thecylinder A, because the communicating guide-tube B is practically filledwith the rod 0, and when this bar has sufficiently cooled and set itrequires but slight pressure upon either end of the red O to force itand the soap bar out of the mold. I have provided the rod 0, near eitherend thereof,

with the longitudinal slots H, which furnish convenient handholds inmanipulating the bar and especially in withdrawing the supports D- fromthe floats in the bar after the bar and rod are removed from the mold.This leaves the floats in proper position and at regular intervals inthe bar, which is afterward cut up and pressed into cakes in the usualmanner, the floats being designed to be located at the center of eachcake.

Obviously changes in the construction and form of the various parts ofmy apparatus may be made without departing from the spirit of myinvention, and all such variations or changes are intended to becomprehended by the following claims.

This apparatus is especially adapted for 10- cating in cakes of soap thefloat described and claimed in my application, Serial No. 734,001, filedOctober 18, 1891.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a soap-mold, the combination with a vertical cylinder, of a rodsupported and sliding therein at one side thereof, and a series of pinsprojecting from said rod, substantially as described.

2. In a soap-mold, the combination with the cylinder provided with thetubular extension at one side thereof and in open communicationtherewith, of a rod fitting in said tubular extension, and a series ofpins projecting from said rod into the cylinder, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a soap-mold, the combination with a cylinder, of a rod supportedand sliding therein at one side thereof, and a series of pins projectingfrom said rod having flattened ends, substantially as described.

4. In a soap-mold, the combination with a cylinder, of a rod supportedand sliding therein at one side thereof, a series of pins projectingfrom said rod having flattened ends, and a series of floats each havinga peripheral groove to receive the flattened ends of said 1 pins,substantially as described.

5. In a soap-mold, the combination with a cylinder, and a tubularextension arranged at one side thereof in open communication therewith,of a rod sliding in said extension, a series of pins projecting fromsaid rod having flattened ends, and a series of floats having peripheralgrooves into which said flattened ends fit, substantially as described.

WASHINGTON BERRY.

Witnesses:

M. E. SHIELDS, O. L. Woon.

